David from Peoria (Arizona!) wrote in and asked:
….about “spray arc transfer MIG.” I tried it with my Miller 8VS and Syncrowave 200 (on CC mode). It sounded like TIG, but I ruined a tip & nozzle. Is this type recommended “at home,” or do you need a bigger multi-processor power source, and what are the advantages?
I quickly replied:
(more…)
You may or may not know about Tesla, the swankiest 100% electric car on the market. They started up production a couple of months ago:
San Carlos, Calif. – (March 17, 2008) — Regular production of the 2008 Tesla Roadster commenced today, marking an historical milestone for Tesla Motors and a watershed in the development of clean, zero-emissions vehicles.
First unveiled as a prototype on July 19th, 2006, the revolutionary Tesla Roadster generated an extraordinary response from people everywhere who were inspired by the vision that beautiful, high performance cars could generate zero-emissions and burn no oil.
Here, Tesla’s engineer explains to Inside Line how the much anticipated electric roadster works:
And now they’ve opened their first store in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago. I can only wonder how long it is before our own Joe Welder trades in his Prius (and his house) for a Tesla– it even comes in Arc-Zone Orange!
Tom OLeary, General Manager of the new Tesla store writes on his blog:
The Tesla Roadster is a revolutionary car and our Tesla Stores will be no less revolutionary as an automotive retail experience….. continue reading at Tesla Motors–>
A lot of times companies don’t add new vendors to their line up because there’s a lot of work involved in getting set up to do business. The vendor requires paperwork, the customer requires paperwork, sales staff needs to be trained… and of course in the case of Arc-Zone.com® we need to add products to our website. Then there’s the “getting to know you” period when the vendor and the customer adapt to each other’s way of doing business.
Arc-Zone.com® just hooked up with Revco Industries to carry their line of high-quality safety apparel. From quality leather safety apparel and BSX Xteme protective wear with style and welding gloves galore, we’re adding to our webstore daily.
One of the most exciting lines is the Women’s Welding Wear, offering protective gear that is tailored for a woman’s body.
In addition to offering great quality welding safety products, and information about Leather Quality and finding your Glove size, Revco is easy to do business with!
When we placed our first order, within minutes we received a confirmation indicating availability and ship date. And the best part is, they delivered!
We hope our customers are as excited as we are about this new line of welding safety gear. Not only will you stay protected, you’ll look good.
$10 million bounty for super-efficient cars
Insurance company provides the purse for Automotive X Prize
By Alan Boyle, Science editor MSNBCA $10 million contest to develop super-efficient — and salable — automobiles is getting its official kickoff on Thursday, with Progressive Insurance providing the purse.
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, modeled after earlier prizes for spaceflight and genetic research, is aimed at promoting the creation of cars that get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon, while at the same time hitting targets for low greenhouse-gas emissions, safety and affordability.
READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE–>
There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in the automotive industry, though I have been following the development of the Tesla — named after Nicola Tesla, and electrical genius. Tesla Motors was established by the founder of PayPal and some other Silicon Valley success stories who are putting their fortunes to work to improve our quality of life and provide jobs.
The Automotive X prize is reminiscent of the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight recently awarded to Burt Rutan another innovator in the aircraft industry (flew around the world without stopping) He beat out all the competition to claim the prize for first in space. His company Scaled Composites, Inc. develops research aircraft and currently employs 130 people at the Mojave, California airport. My mom went to high school with Burt and he was in my Dad’s model airplane club! I met him myself back in the late ’80s and he toured me around his shop in the desert. I’ll tell you about that in another post.
Let’s hope the Automotive X Prize sparks some terrific innovation– and some opportunities– for some of the auto companies.
We have evolved from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age and we are nearing the end of the Age of Oil. When historians look back at our time, that is how they will refer to us, to our time on this planet. It is in everything we do and use.
Last night My Wife and I were invited to the Del Mar Country Club for a presentation, a “fireside chat” with T. Boone Pickens it was very interesting and gave me some insight as to the future of energy, and the world energy markets.
Pickens advocates we pursue all forms of alternative fuels and move towards reducing our dependency on imported oil. He believes we won’t ever eliminate oil, and we shouldn’t as he believes we need to maintain relationships with the oil suppliers.
There were some 270 people there and the discussion was moderated by Sandra Maas from KUSI News. I had the chance to speak with Boone after the event and he was very informative and funny! He is currently developing natural gas for transportation, a giant wind farm for power generation and a water company. more info on his site. . .
So HOW does this relate to the Welding industry?
Consider the opportunities for each one of those forms of energy, and natural resources.
They all need to be manufactured and delivered — this takes infrastructure, storage tanks, pipelines, transportation vehicles, distribution hubs, terminals, and dispensers. All of these items are heavily fabricated metal products which require engineering, raw material production, welding, finishing and assembly. Work that can’t be done overseas.
It is going to take thousands of skilled welders, pipe fitters, welding and manufacturing engineers, and others to build the needed infrastructure. Additionally we will need welding equipment, safety equipment and much more.
No matter what your political affiliations are, the opportunity to pursue these energy resources in a creative and thoughtful way will pay huge dividends, provide thousands of good paying jobs, and supply the needed energy to power us well beyond the next several generations.
These are exciting times!
(Grangemouth Oil Refiner courtesy of Bryan Burke)
JESSE JAMES TO DEBUT NEW CREATION AT LEGEND OF THE MOTORCYCLE
Jesse James has announced that his newest creation, a glistening aluminum-clad motorcycle and sidecar combo for client Airstream will make its first public debut at the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours on May 3rd.
As reported recently in Forbes* magazine, “James and his welders machined, riveted and hammered 18-gauge steel and razor-thin aluminum into a space-age-looking vehicle, applying some of the same construction methods Airstream uses in its shiny luxury trailers.” The result is “One of the most elaborate masterpieces James’ shop has ever produced.”
This is not the first time the West Coast Choppers founder, Monster Garage host, and Baja 1000 competitor has chosen to unveil a bike at Legend of the Motorcycle. At the inaugural Concours in 2006, James debuted his Radial Hell aero bike powered by a 7-cylinder Rotec radial aircraft engine (photo attached). The response from attendees was awe.
Other legendary custom builders displaying bikes at this year’s Legend of the Motorcycle include Japanese minimalist master Shinya Kimura, Choppers Inc. founder Billy Lane, and Brooklyn’s Paul Cox. Last year Cox and partner Keino, in addition to displaying two bikes by late friend, business partner and legend Indian Larry, debuted When Push Comes to Shove - a bike the pair built for client Brad Pitt - whose intricate and painstakingly detailed metal engraving was something typically only seen on handmade European shotguns. All three builders plan to unveil
something new at the May event as well.
The third annual Legend of the Motorcycle, including the Bonhams & Butterfields auction of motorcycles from the Mike Corbin Collection, takes place the first weekend in May, Saturday the 3rd, on the lawns of the ocean-side Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, just south of San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased, and additional information can be found, on the official website: LegendoftheMotorcycle.com
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Joe Welder willl be there! will you?
We get asked all the time “what is the proper stick-out for the tungsten electrode on a TIG / GTAW / HeliArc torch?”
That’s a tough question because there are many variables based on the type of front-end parts being used on the torch — and — the welding application. As we all know high-quality, consistently good looking and strong TIG welds are a combination of art and science.
With this new tungsten electrode stick-out tool you can reduce some of the variables by accurately measuring the tungsten stick-out by 1/16″ (1.6mm) increments up to 1″ (25.4mm).
It’s constructed of CNC machined brass with knurled locking sleeve and includes a key ring holder with nylon strap and spring type aluminum hook loop… and is available online at Arc-Zone.com!
well you know the rest. While Jim Watson is at the AWS / Fabtech trade show in Chicago we’ve been busy here at Arc-Zone.com launching a new webstore.
We’ll be making an official announcement in the next day or so, and we’re still making some modifications, but it is working, it is secure, and it looks pretty good. We’re so excited– the new store will make it easier for us to bring new, innovative products online more quickly.
If you stop by the Arc-Zone.com store, let us know what’s working and even what’s not working… continual improvement only happens when we know what needs to improve!
Arc-Zone’s own Joe Welder, aka Jim Watson, is on his way to Chicago for the Fabtech/AWS (American Welding Society) Trade Show.
Jim didn’t have much time before he left to write about the show, but he did shoot me an email and asked me to post it:
For the longest time the AWS (American Welding Society) staged their own stand alone welding trade show in April of each year and it rotated primarily around the cities in the midwest.
With the continued acquisition of many small specialty manufacturers, the show’s attendance diminished and lost its luster. Recently the AWS and Fabtech shows merged to combine one big metal working extravaganza!
If your like me and love to see all the good stuff this is the palce to be!
Plan on it this weekend in Chicago!See you there!
–Jim
There’s an impressive list of exhibitors at the show, and some great welding seminars and other programs, including the 2007 PROFESSIONAL WELDERS COMPETITION where you could win $2,500.
Expect a full report and maybe even some information and pics of some great innovative products from Jim when he gets back.
APPLETON, Wis. 4 June 2007—To provide welding operators with the accuracy and verrsatility needed to prepare tungsten for both orbital and hand-held TIG applications, Weldcraft offers its new Triad™ (TTG Plus) tungsten grinder. Featuring precision-drilled entries, Triad accommodates six different tungsten electrode diameters—0.040, 1/16, 5/64, 3/32, 1/8 and 5/32 inch—and offers four different grinding angles (15º, 18º, 22.5º and 30º) to ensure reliable arc starting and good weld penetration.
Triad™s robust industrial-grade motor also provides consistent cutting and facing capabilities (up to 5/32-inch) to eliminate the need and cost for additional tungsten preparation tools.
READ MORE ABOUT WELDCRAFT’S TRIAD TUNGSTEN GRINDER HERE….
As you may or may not know, Arc-Zone.com introduced the first low-cost, high-quality portable tungsten electrode grinder 7 years ago (the Sharpie™ Hand Held Tungsten Grinder). Since that time we have continued to bring to market new products that offer additional user benefits, whether it’s, adjustable grind angle, dust collection, cut-off options, or heavy-duty motors.
The new Weldcraft™ Triad model fills a void for a portable, semi-hand-held model and was designed for the precision TIG/GTAW orbital welding market by Georg Fischer. This new grinder offers several “fixed” grind angles which may be important to welding engineers that don’t want the operators constantly tinkering with the tungsten grind angle (or taper). Additionally, and more importantly it offers a precision tungsten cut off option, important for orbital welding equipment that use short tungsten electrodes.
The Triad is priced at the high end of the portable grinders, $895, just below the high-performance bench top models, and will sharpen tungsten electrodes in diameters from 0.040″ to 5/32″. The machine can be used in the weldshop or in the field and has a durable long-life motor.
The Weldcraft Triad Tungsten Grinder is not yet available, but you can reserve yours today– they should be shipping, complete with rugged carrying case by the end of next week. Give us a call:
800-944-2243 (toll free US) or
760-931-1500 (worldwide) or
email triad at arc-zone.com.